I so appreciate learning new ways to think about things. New perspectives and takes inspire me greatly!
The other day I was listening to Charlie Kirk give a talk to some group and he brought up an excellent point – we should prioritize our values over feelings. Feelings will ebb and flow, change dramatically depending on the weather, or even do a complete 360.
But values on the other hand are firm and grounded! They are strong, an excellent tool to measure situations and opportunities against! They don’t blow about in the wind, but rather help you know the course you are on!
Determine Your Values
First off, you must determine your values. Charlie Kirk indicated that you had five main values in life. Commitment to God and family would be two obvious values, I would think. But what about after that?
Do you work in health care – is that another of your main values? Or perhaps you are helping in areas of government, working to help us return to the foundations our founding fathers established? Are you raising children and training them – another important priority!
Consider what your priorities are, and that will help you determine your values. Ask God what He would have you make your focus. It is vital that we live and work to serve Him well! Asking His direction and following His lead are exceptional ways to get going in the right direction!
Live Your Values
The reason it is so important to realize your values is so that you can put them into practice. If you don’t know where you are going then you don’t know what to aim towards. But once you know the goal, you know your priorities, you can pursue a life that is inline with your values!
It is that simple and also that complicated! Pause from everything that takes your time and distracts you and lean in, pray, and then listen to how God directs you. Even if it’s just a hint of a direction, keep listening and asking!
My sister really encouraged me the other day – she was reminding me how Christ instructed us to ask, seek, and knock. He didn’t tell us to be complacent or find peace with the status quo. Don’t get me wrong, peace is important – but I think of it as more active than passive. You must be at peace because you are pursuing appropriate things, not because you are sitting idly by.
So let me encourage you to action! Now keep in mind – prayer is action! Prayer is the most powerful tool we yield, so use it thoughtfully and wisely. Take time and listen as you pray; ask God to teach you how to pray. Then after you pray, take action. Perhaps that simply entails showing up in the work God has for you today, or maybe the action is speaking up on behalf of one of your values. Disregard whether it is easy or if you want to do it, but rather consider if the need to speak is based on living your values. If it is, where is the question? You know what you need to do!
Choose Your Values Over Feelings
I remember when I was younger I was kept constructively busy, like any good parents would keep their children busy. In between school and jobs it didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of free time. (don’t panic, there was plenty of free time – as a child you don’t realize it, it’s only when you look back you see it)
Due to the (seeming) lack of free time I would often do my jobs ahead of time, before they were required, because somehow it seemed to take less time to do them if I did them before the deadline. Maybe it’s girl math, I don’t know!
One day, I was talking to a friend how I needed to go do such and such. Now I honestly don’t remember if I was complaining about it or just stating it. I’d like to think I was just stating it, but knowing how dramatic girls can be, who knows! My friend responded that she also had jobs to do, but she didn’t feel like it. Y’all, call me crazy, but that was the first time I remember being introduced to the notion of having feelings about whether or not I felt like doing what I needed to do. It was like a new perspective opened up to me, but in a negative way. Isn’t it funny the things we remember?
The moral of the story is, don’t tap into your feelings about what you need to do or whether or not you should do something – instead, tap into your values. Will it take you in the direction you want to go? Will it further grow the values you want to pursue? Does it honor God and help others? Values over feelings! Feelings are deceitful and highly unreliable, values are ideally foundational and strong!
What Are Your Values?
Now the important thing is to determine your values. Take some time, maybe postpone watching that show or order in instead of going out this evening. Press pause on all the distractions, pray and seek God and ask Him to help you determine your values so that you can make better life choices. Determine five keys to living your best life to honor your parents, bring glory to God, and help those that God has brought into your life.
Once you have your list, use it to help make your decisions – the big and the small. Especially consider the small ones, because they can certainly add up in the long run!
I pray this motivates and inspires you! It excites me to discover a new perspective on how to serve God better!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: https://www.theamericanlady.com/